FAQs

No. If you can cancel your plan with us at any time, you will not incur any further charges.

If you cancel your plan with us, we will refund to you any monies you have paid us which we have not yet distributed.

Call our freephone number 08000 434 336 and speak to one of our advisers, or email us at info@debtsolver.co.uk

We inform all of your creditors that we are dealing on your behalf. Many of them will start to communicate directly with us, relieving you of the pressure and stress. If you are contacted directly by a creditor, you can pass on our details and we will deal with them. We will keep you informed of any communication we have with your creditors.

Probably. Creditors do send out Default Notices to protect their own legal position. When you enter a plan with us, you will be in default on your original credit agreement. Your creditor is therefore entitled to send you a Default Notice.

You should expect that your credit rating will be adversely affected in the short to medium term. This is because, by entering into a plan, you will not be making the contractual repayments on your unsecured debts. However, your credit rating may already be poor if you have arrears or a history of missed or late payments.

We are unable to guarantee that your creditors will not take further recovery action, but if they do, we will help you respond so that you are able to repay any required repayment.

If you have existing CCJs against you, you can use the plan to make payments against them.

No. To come on plan, you only need to have a surplus of income above your expenditure.

If you do not wish to tell your partner, you do not need to unless you have shared debts and/or you need your partner’s income to be taken into account to support the plan. However, we believe that it is always best to be honest with your partner.

A debt repayment plan can only cover your unsecured debts and arrears. Therefore any other debts such as rent or mortgage, hire purchase agreements, any loan secured against property, council tax and utilities cannot be included. You must continue to make these payments yourself as failure to do so, will result in serious consequences.

When we assess your financial situation, we take into account these priority debts as well as your day to day living expenses, before calculating how much you can afford to pay your other creditors.

No. We do not lend you money nor do we pay off your debts. Your payment plan is a solution that allows you to repay your creditors at a monthly rate that you can afford. If you do not make payments into the plan, we cannot make payments to your creditors.

A secured debt is a debt secured against an asset that you own. Typical secured debts will be a mortgage, a car loan, etc.

An unsecured debt is any loan not secured on an asset, such as a bank overdraft, a personal loan, a credit card, store card, etc.

No. As we do not lend you any money, we do not need to credit check you.

All the advice we give prior to a decision being made on an agreed course of action, is free. However some of the solutions we offer do incur a fee as outlined below.

If we implement a Debt Management plan on your behalf we charge an initial set-up fee (which is equivalent to two monthly payments) and an administration fee of £75. The set-up and administration fee are retained by us for setting up your plan. This may result in a delay of up to two months before creditors receive payment, which will place your accounts into arrears or further into arrears. We then take a monthly management fee equivalent to 17.5% of each payment you make to us, subject to a monthly minimum of £30.

The set-up fee includes:

• Calculation of your affordable payment plan
• Communication with your creditors, either in writing or by telephone
• Issuing to creditors your reduced payment proposals
• Preparation and sending of your financial statement

Because you are making reduced payments on your debts it will take longer for your debts to be paid off. Repaying debt over a longer period may increase the total amount to be repaid. Your ability to obtain credit will be affected in the short term and might be affected in the medium to long term. As part of our initial consultation with you, we will provide you with an estimate of the likely time you will be on plan.

A Debt Management Plan is an informal arrangement. Therefore if your personal circumstances change, it is easy to change the arrangement and even to replace it with an alternative arrangement if that becomes more appropriate at a later date.

You should expect that your credit rating will be adversely affected by going into an IVA and will affect your credit rating for up to 6 years. Homeowners may be required to re-mortgage in the 5th year of the IVA.

No. An IVA can only cover your unsecured debts and arrears.

The decision to accept or reject an IVA is made by a vote of your creditors at a creditors meeting. You need to get over 75% acceptance by debt value at that meeting for the IVA to go ahead. If less than 75% by debt value vote to accept the IVA, the IVA will fail.

This can vary, but it usually lasts for up to 5 years.

Although the advice we give on whether an IVA is suitable for your particular debt situation is free, if you decide that an IVA is appropriate then there are fees to be paid of which you will be advised separately by a Letter of Engagement from the Insolvency Practitioner. However, the fees are deducted from your contributions (i.e. are not in addition to them).

If you owe a creditor more than £750, they may file a bankruptcy petition. However, in order to declare yourself bankrupt you must firstly fill in a Bankruptcy petition. Once the petition has been filed, a court date will be set for an initial hearing. This first hearing will decide whether or not a Bankruptcy order should be made. If a Bankruptcy Order is made, you will be declared bankrupt.

The effects of bankruptcy include the following:

• You can't hold certain public offices.
• The trustee controls all of your assets including your home.
• You can only conduct business using the name under which you were made bankrupt.
• You can't form, manage or promote a company without the court's permission. In certain circumstances your employment may also be affected. You may open a new bank or building society account but you should disclose the fact that you are bankrupt.
• After you are discharged from your Bankruptcy, it will be registered with credit reference agencies that you were bankrupt. This will usually stay on your file for 6 years.

Although the advice we give on whether bankruptcy is a suitable option for your debt situation is free, if you decide to utilise our services in completing the bankruptcy forms and assisting you with the bankruptcy process, we will charge a fee based on the amount of work done. This will typically be £500. If you as a couple are both declaring yourself bankrupt, we allow a 50% reduction on the second fee.

Although the advice we give is free, if you decide to utilise the services of one of our group companies to either re-mortgage or take out a secured loan, then a fee will be payable on successful completion of this arrangement. Details will be provided on request.